Thursday, May 2, 2013

I recently picked up some gouache and decided to try my hand at painting some simple paintings. I've never used the medium before and the first few times I tried, my paintings looked like a school art project. Perhaps they still do, I'm still not entirely convinced of their "maturity."

My idea was to paint a series of "wild flowers", just non conventional flower paintings that would look nice on a wall together. I doubt they'll ever make it into a major museum, but then again, this is not my intention. My goal is to make pretty things for people's houses. A source of colorful decorations that don't come from Ikea.

So here you go...

And this is how they look framed above my bed.

I also plan on creating my own prints in the very near future. Anyone interested, please send me a message. Thanks for reading! I'm going to see what my puppy is destroying in the other room.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Today I finished my new kitchen table! I am quite proud of this piece. It is the first piece I have used spray paint on and I am quite pleased with the results. I did have to take a paintbrush and do some touching up towards the middle of the table where the lines were so thin.

I bought an old wooden coffee table from the charity shop for about the equivalent of $4 US and sanded it down and painted it as seen. I then bought a second hand table with these great legs for quite cheap as well, but with a hideous plastic tabletop and combined the two! What do you think?!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Hi readers!

Aside from knitting, I enjoy painting and have a small hobby of painting old furniture to spice it up a bit. I love color and I love funky things and I think bringing pops of colors and patterns into interior decoration in unusual ways is very hip at the moment. I'm a huge fan of bright colored upholstery and patterned walls, but not too much! One piece of something colorful and beautiful can make a room.

I have done three pieces so far, a dresser, a coffee table and an outdoor table. The first two I painted with acrylic paint and finished them with a clear oil based finish, but I am going to venture into doing it properly with oil paint. This is how they turned out.

The dresser is my favorite and I just wish I had spent the time and effort to do it in an oil based paint. I'm no expert painter, I'm still experimenting with what works best.

Unfortunately the outdoor table I painted got broken in a move, so I have no photos, but I took an old table that had been damaged in the rain and sanded it down and painted it with beautiful forest green and white paint. I made a kind of twirly design with the white on green and the table became a great piece of patio furniture.

Last week I bought an old coffee table for 500 Icelandic Krona, about $4 and am looking forward to more experimenting.

About Me

Hi readers and friends! My name is Marta and I am a 28 year old woman and I currently live in Reykjavik Iceland. I am an American, but more of a nomad, who can't seem to stay in one place. I am constantly inspired by the things around me and my experiences. I am a knitter, painter, wanna be interior designer/ fashion designer. I have an interest in all kinds of art, including writing and this is how I came about starting to blog. I spend my days, writing, making things, running, doing yoga, hanging out with my new puppy and my Icelandic boyfriend. I am now in Iceland without a "real" job and I want to put all my thoughts and ideas to "paper" and share them with the world. Happy reading and I look forward to any feedback!